The Redemption Accomplished by Christ

Jesus set out to save His people, and He accomplished this mission perfectly and effectively. Today, R.C. Sproul explains how the biblical doctrine of definite atonement manifests the unfailing purposes of God.

Perhaps you're troubled by the idea of some kind of limit to the atoning work of Christ. There is no limit to the atoning work of Christ and its benefits for you if you are a believer. And there is a serious limit of the benefits of the atonement to anyone who is not a believer. And so again, I remind you that the difficulty here is not whether everybody is saved or not everybody is saved. And I think we would all agree that if God purposed from all eternity, that all mankind would be saved, then all mankind would be saved. He certainly has the power and the authority to save the whole world if he is pleased to do that.

For reasons, we don't know that was not his plan. That was not his desire. His desire was to save some and thereby show his mercy and his grace and to pass over others and thereby to show his justice and his holiness. And in both cases, those who are saved and those who are lost, the glory of God is made manifest in his holiness and greatness is vindicated, so that God displays in the cross, both his justice and his mercy. God's purposes do not fail. His plan is effective. What Jesus set out to do was to save his people and he accomplished his mission and he did it perfectly and effectively for all who are given to him by the Father.